In cases such as DeShaney v. Winnebago County (1989) and Castle Rock v. Gonzales (2005), the Supreme Court has declined to put police and other public authorities under any general duty to protect individuals from crime. The decisions have been broadly unpopular, but Mike McDaniel at PJ Media takes the Court’s side on policy grounds: “This [lack of a particularized duty] might seem absolutely outrageous, but it is logical, rational, and unquestionably necessary.”
Archive for December, 2011
McDonald’s and the legal academy
Another law professor finds the hot-coffee and obesity lawsuits admirable, and Ted Frank once more begs to differ.
“Relationship Breakup Following Collision ‘Too Remote To Create Liability'”
Canada: The British Columbia Supreme Court has found “that a claim for damages for a break-up of a relationship following a collision is too remote for liability.” It accepted the plaintiff’s contention that the car crash had aggravated his pre-existing problems of back pain, but said the subsequent break-up of his romantic relationship was “too remote” a consequence to give rise to liability given that the couple appeared to have been at odds over “fundamental and deep-seated issues.” [Erik Magraken]
Feds challenge Chicago lender-maintenance law
The federal government is suing to overturn Chicago’s law requiring lenders to maintain properties they don’t own [WSJ editorial]:
Earlier this month the federal agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sued Chicago for its vacant-buildings ordinance, which requires that a “mortgagee” register vacant properties, pay a $500 fee to the city, comply with onerous maintenance requirements and face a $1,000 daily fine for noncompliance. Any entity with a financial interest in the home—a bank, mortgage trust, mortgage servicer or Fan and Fred—is subject to the law, whether or not it has foreclosed on the home and owns the title….
The [Chicago enactment] came at the expense of small banks and mortgage servicers that can’t afford, for instance, to install “commercial-quality metal security panels” on windows or clean snow “from the walkway leading to the main entry door, and any public sidewalk adjoining the lot.” It’s legally dubious to impose these requirements on private owners of private property, and by doing so Chicago will raise the cost of mortgage loans to future homeowners.
More: Kevin Funnell, Bank Lawyer’s Blog; earlier here and here.
Ban hands-free car phone use? Who, us?
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, who has made “distracted driving” his “signature safety issue,” is putting distance between himself and the NTSB’s call for a sweeping ban. [Reuters, Tina Korbe/Hot Air, earlier here and here]
December 27 roundup
- Exoneree’s ex sues him for share of state’s wrongful-imprisonment payout [Dallas Observer via Balko]
- Gibson’s alleged crime: ebony veneer too thick [Andrew Grossman, earlier here, here]
- About that flap over “free” lawyer representation of Wisconsin high court justice [Rick Esenberg, Shark and Shepherd]
- Allegation: Binder & Binder, largest Social Security advocacy firm, used red stickers to flag clients’ unfavorable medical info, often withheld it from disability-claim judges [WSJ]
- “Judge Dismisses Landmark Bribery Conviction, Rips DOJ” [WSJ Law Blog, Lindsey order, more, my Cato post] FCPA reverse for federal prosecutors in arms trade case [BLT]
- Congress passes bill clarifying jurisdiction, venue [Howard Wasserman, Prawfs]
- Important reason to record cop-citizen interactions: to protect police from false claims [Scott Greenfield]
Remembering Larry Ribstein
Legal academia is in mourning for one of its most distinguished and multitalented figures, Larry Ribstein, a key scholar in corporate law and a provocative and rigorous exponent of law and economics thinking. Larry was an early blogger (at Ideoblog and more recently Truth on the Market), an influential critic of prosecutorial and regulatory excess, and a key voice in the debate on what law schools should do. He was also, I am grateful to say, an important friend of this site over many years. Like so many others, I had reason to appreciate his generous gifts of time and engagement, most recently in February when he helped arrange my U. of Illinois speech on Schools for Misrule, for which he served as the friendly counter-speaker, and led me around Champaign-Urbana, to which he was the perfect guide.
Some samplings of the outpouring around the blogosphere: Geoffrey Manne and Paul Caron (with tribute roundups), Steve Bainbridge, Tom Kirkendall (“a teacher who understood precisely what his life’s purpose was and pursued it with an endearing combination of intellectual curiosity, vitality, humanity and good humor,” Dave Hoffman (“a galvanic force… a great and unique voice”), Ted Frank, Henry Manne, Andy Morriss (“I suspect he’s already been named Associate Archangel for Research in heaven and doubled scholarly output there.”). A memorial service is planned at George Mason.
Christmas highlights of Overlawyered past
From the archives:
- Christmas in legalese: “…Hosiery was meticulously suspended from the forward edge of the woodburning caloric apparatus… ” [1999]
- California lawyer using Prop 65 bounty-hunting statute goes after silver dragées found on some gingerbread houses [2005; more on gingerbread (and chestnut-roasting) hazards, 2002]
- Yuletide in old England less jolly given health and safety adjustments [2007, 2009]
- Santa’s extra helper might be a witness in case of litigation, and other items from the legal-Claus file [2005]
- “Law firm offers divorce vouchers for Christmas” [2009]
- Unable to cope with CPSIA testing rules, charity will discontinue donating handcrafted wood toys [2010]
- “Cease this shouting!” cried Grinch, “From all Yule din desist!” But he’d Moved To The Nuisance and so, case dismissed [Art Carden, Forbes on Whoville externalities] [2010]
“Relax, folks, it really is honey after all”
Dan Charles at NPR reports on how parts of the media joined in last month to hype a report by journalist Andrew Schneider in Food Safety News raising alarms about the safety and authenticity of honey. (Similarly: Maggie Koerth-Baker, BoingBoing). “It sounded so right, plenty of people decided that it just had to be true. … But then we decided to look into it a little more closely. We talked to honey companies, academic experts, and one of the world’s top honey laboratories in Germany. The closer we looked, the more misleading the story in Food Safety News seemed.”
My Cato colleague Sallie James was among the few to take a skeptical tone about the Schneider allegations when they first hit the press. And as NPR points out, Food Safety News is part of the sprawling new media empire of Bill Marler, the very media-savvy food poisoning lawyer whose Marler Clark law firm has done much to sway press discussion of many food safety issues. On a different topic, did Marler really say the other day that raw milk farmers should count themselves lucky they’re not put to death?
“Man gets $10 million for Segway accident”
The circumstances were unusual — an injury during a blindfolded, helmetless demonstration — but a legal cloud might still be forming for the unique personal transportation device. [Boston Herald via Miller]
P.S. Connecticut Law Tribune (via TortsProf) has much more on the case.